The Register of Members’ Interests Forms are available for public inspection. In addition, the interests are published on Harrogate Borough Council's website – there is a link from the Parish Councils page, or type the following web address into your browser: https://localdemocracy.harrogate.gov.uk/allParishCouncils.asp

Details of the work of the Community Payback Team in Hampsthwaite
Hampsthwaite Parish Council was approached in December 2016 to seek our support for the Community Payback scheme. The Unpaid Work Requirement (commonly known as Community Payback) is one of the requirements that can be included in a community order. It involves service users doing compulsory work for the benefit of the community.
Types of Work Undertaken
Work in Hampsthwaite
Volunteers
Current Year Reports
Contact: Unpaid Work Placement Coordinator, Interserve (Justice) The Humberside, Lincolnshire & North Yorkshire Community Rehabilitation Company Ltd Harrogate Probation Office Harrogate Redefining the future for people and placesWebsite: www.interserve.comPhone: 07720 213674Email: JoeMurphy@interservefls.gse.gov.uk

The Village Room began its life as a purpose-built reading room constructed in stone with a boarded roof covered in slate and with its interior beams exposed in a vaulted roof. It opened to the public in August 1890. Now the Room is a regular venue for meetings including the Parish Council, the Village Society Committee and the Wednesday Group.Hampsthwaite Village Room High Street,HG3 2ET
For bookings, contact: T: 01423 770332 E: villageroombookings@hampsthwaite.org.uk
See also the History section for a brief history of

Details of events and meetings at Hampsthwaite Village Room.PLEASE NOTE: whilst every effort is made to ensure this calendar is kept up to date and can be used for guidance, potential Village Room users are strongly advised to confirm vacancies with the Booking Secretary before committing to a date for any new events.
For bookings, contact:Booking SecretaryT: 01423 770332E: villageroombookings@hampsthwaite.org.ukIf you need to visit the Village Room prior to an event, please make an appointment with the Booking Secretary to help us avoid any inconvenience to other hirers.

Affordable Homes to Rent and Buy for local people at Grange Park Hampsthwaite
We are a small, but expanding, housing association who only operate in the Harrogate District. We offer homes for rent and on a shared ownership basis and have 1, 2 and 3 bedroomed homes on Grange Park. With a personal, local service we want to help our customers create homes near family and work.

St. Thomas a Becket Church, Hampsthwaite are holding a Christmas Tree Festival over the weekend of 15th – 17th December.There will be a ‘Preview Evening & Concert ’ on Friday 15th with wine and canapes being served from 6.30 p.m and with a choral performance from Voces Seraphorum from 7.00 – 7.45 p.m. – tickets can be purchased from Hampsthwaite Post Office or you can buy them on the door (£7.00).The church will be open from 10.00 – 16.00 on Saturday 16th December for you to come along and enjoy the Christmas Trees and there will be refreshments served throughout the day.

Newsletters and Updates resulting from Action Group meetings
An Action Group to oppose excessive development in Hampsthwaite was formed following the public meting at the Memorial Hall on Thursday 19th July 2017.Meetings are held on Monday evenings, 6.00pm at Sophie's Coffee Shop unless advised otherwise. Email: info@hampsthwaiteactiongroup.com URL: www.hampsthwaiteactiongroup.com FaceBook:@handsoffhampsthwaitevillage Twitter: https://twitter.com/HampsthwaiteAG

The Hampsthwaite Church Turret Clock - by Robert Lloyd

Index

The Hampsthwaite Church clock was 100 years old on the 12th April 2012.

The commemorative plaque reads –

TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN MEMORY OF JOHN SWALE WHO WAS BORN IN THIS VILLAGE ON 13TH NOVEMBER 1843 AND DIED IN MANCHESTER ON THE 2ND OCTOBER 1909

THE CLOCK WAS PLACED IN THIS TOWER BY HIS WIDOW MARY ELLEN SWALE AND WAS DEDICATED BY THE LORD BISHOP OF RICHMOND 12TH APRIL 1912

Church birth records show that John Swale was baptised on Sunday 31st December 1843 to parents Richard and Ann Swale. Richard and many in the family were Nidderdale weavers.

Known as turret clocks, or sometimes tower clocks, these clocks are usually seen only by those who wind them. The following is a list of Hampsthwaite Church clock winders since 1912 as recorded on the clock case door.

Clock winders name - as listed on the clock case pendulum door

Start date

Years Wound

GL

1912

22

Ken Collier

1934

1

George Christopher Ashby

1935

25

George Thomas Ashby

1960

22

Dennis Watson

22nd May 1982

5

Robert Lloyd

28th February 1987

25 to date

Chris Hardcastle

1987/88

24 to date

Howard Cooper

1987/88 to 2008

20

“As winders we have welcomed many visitors over the years with over sixty visitors marking their names on the clock case door. A great tradition stretching back over the century.”

We enter a low door at the bottom of the tower and there in the cramped entrance an old stone spiral staircase winds its way upwards out of our sight. The steps are worn and uneven, narrow slit windows at every turn let in much-needed light, and it's rather cool and a bit dusty. An odd cobweb or two adds to the feeling that not many people pass this way.

Above us we can now just make out the muffled sound of the clock ticking, a steady deep clunk every second, like the sound of a very old grandfather clock.

Moving up the spiral staircase, we come to the clock room door which has a simple bolt key. Lit by an old leaded south window, we see against a wall an old wood and glass case, locked by a small cabinet key. The tick is now much louder and emanates from inside. Opening the wooden clock case, we now see the clock itself: an iron frame filled with gear wheels. At the back is the top of the pendulum swinging from side to side.

The clock was built by John Smith and Sons in 1912. John Smith began his own business in 1856 and it flourished in Derby during the 19th century industrial revolution, as one of the principle companies making flatbed turret clocks installed in churches, town halls and hospitals.

Annual maintenance has been carried out since 16th June 1947 by William Potts & Sons Limited of Guildford Street, Leeds, who joined the Smiths of Derby Group in 1935. William Potts & Sons had since 1833 been primarily concerned with domestic timepieces. The company gradually expanded into the manufacture and repair of public clocks.

The clock mechanism is properly known as a ‘movement’ and is based on a very old design. Right in the front of the movement is the brass clock dial used to check and set the time – it has only one hand. A rod runs from immediately above the brass dial up to the ceiling, turns through 90 degrees to a horizontal rod, which then links directly through a set of gears to the clock face on the outside of the tower. These gears, known as the ‘motion work’, are situated inside the tower and behind the clock face. They reduce the one-turn per hour of the minute hand into one turn in twelve hours of the hour hand. The motion work connects to the hands outside with a tube which runs through a hole in the tower wall which is very thick - about four feet! Clock faces such as these are made from copper sheet.

In the clock case movement, there are three winding drums with a thin braded wire extending upwards over pulleys and across the ceiling to the opposite corner of the clock room. These wires then plunge down through a hole to three separate heavy cylindrical weights hanging from them. The largest, for the hour chime, is about three feet tall and a foot in diameter. Fortunately, some guards around the holes protect the unwary visitor from falling in. These weights provide the driving power for the clock pendulum and for the striking of the bells. The smallest centre weight provides driving power, through the middle winding drum in the clock case movement, for the pendulum; the weight on the right is connected to the left winding drum, which drives the two quarter hour bells. The left (heaviest) weight is connected to the right winding drum and operates the single hour bell.

Three thin solid wires extend from the clock case to the ceiling, going directly up to the belfry where they operate the hammers to strike the three bells used by the clock: two quarter hour bells and one hour bell. The hour chime is triggered by little pillars placed into the large hour cog on the right hand side of the movement and the quarter hour chimes are triggered by little pillars placed into the large quarter hour cog on the left side of the movement.

Our flatbed turret clock keeps very good time. It runs a few seconds fast over most of the year and a few seconds slow when the outside temperature is above 20 degrees Celsius. To adjust the clock (speed up or slow down) small weights are added or subtracted from the top of the pendulum. These effectively change the centre of gravity of the pendulum and change the period of swing. The weight adjustment on the pendulum and the weekly check following winding, keeps the clock in very good time.

Proceeding further up the stone tower staircase, we open another door and hear the outside wind; a reminder that we are now getting near the top of the tower. In the belfry, louvres are used instead of windows, which are open slats allowing the sound to escape whilst keeping the rain out. There are six bells in the belfry: all brass, dull and green. Only three are used for the clock. Belfries can be very dangerous and noisy places if a bell suddenly starts to sound when the clock is striking. The note of the bell is very loud, deep and harsh: if you go up to the belfry, take extra care and be sure to cover up your ears. After the last stroke has sounded the bell goes on humming and humming, softer and softer until after a minute it has died away completely.